August 19, (THEWILL) – The second round of the Cincinnati Open saw Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz knock out another former world number one, Britain’s Andy Murray, as he did against Swiss maestro Roger Federer at the All England Club competition at Wimbledon.
On Wednesday, it was also another straight sets victory for Hurkacz with the big-serving Pole continuing to enjoy what has so far been a stellar year that has seen him rise to 13th in the ATP rankings. The 24-year-old was also impressively seeded ninth for the Western and Southern Open.
Murray, who had an remarkable Olympics in the men’s doubles event playing together with Joe Salisbury for Team Great Britain before they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Ivan Dodig and Marin Cilic, did not make it easy for Hurkacz especially in their evenly matched first set.
The Brit countered the wide range Hurkacz played as effectively as he could and forced his opponent to a tiebreak. The opportunity was there for Murray but Hurkacz saved set points before taking the set 7-4 by winning the breaker.
He had broken something in Murray too by that victory because the display the Brit put up all the way to that breaker in the first set was absent by the time the second set got underway. It was therefore a more routine fare for Hurkacz to take it 6-3.
Playing with flair and confidence, the Pole hit a total of 17 aces across the two-set win in a dominant serving performance. It was an easier victory from the second set as he broke Murray’s serve twice to wrap up the 7-6 6-3 triumph with another service winner. He will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the next round.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
